


What Once Was Forgotten

by darkangel86



Category: Days of Our Lives
Genre: Christmas, Family Feels, Ice Skating, M/M, Recovered Memories, Temporary Amnesia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-16
Updated: 2017-12-16
Packaged: 2019-02-15 18:21:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13036806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkangel86/pseuds/darkangel86
Summary: “Ice skating, daddy, yes!” Ari exclaimed happily, her eyes wide and bright as Will looked down into them. There was something in the back of his mind, something he knew he was supposed to remember. It was there and Will knew it but he couldn't grasp it. He'd been home for months and he still hadn't remembered anyone or anything from his past. It was extremely disheartening. Not just for him but for his entire family.





	What Once Was Forgotten

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for no other reason than because I want Will's first memory to be of Arianna so indulge me a little. :)

“And you're sure you've got everything you need? Um, your phone, Ari's backpack because you know she may get bored and want to color or something and-” Sonny knew he was rambling but he couldn't seem to stop. “Oh! If you need anything, you can call me, any time. I'll answer no matter what's going on and-”

“Son-Sonny!” Will exclaimed, half out of irritation and half because the other man was adorable when he rambled. “I'm fine. We're going to be fine. I can handle taking care of Arianna for a few hours while you go to work.” He assured him. Even if he was slightly nervous about keeping the little girl completely on his own for the first time, it didn't mean that he wasn't fully capable of doing it.

“If, if you're sure.” Sonny said, sounding as if he wasn't so sure himself.

“I am. We're just gonna go out, do some Christmas shopping and maybe go ice skating.” Will informed him and from behind them he heard a high pitched squeal of delight.

“Ice skating, daddy, yes!” Ari exclaimed happily, her eyes wide and bright as Will looked down into them. There was something in the back of his mind, something he knew he was supposed to remember. It was there and Will knew it but he couldn't grasp it. He'd been home for months and he still hadn't remembered anyone or anything from his past. It was extremely disheartening. Not just for him but for his entire family.

“See? We're all good here.” Will said with a smile directed towards Sonny. He watched as the other man visibly relaxed. “So go on to work, do whatever it is you do because Arianna and I are going to be just fine today.”

“Okay. If you're sure.” Sonny said as he shrugged his coat on. “But still, if you need anything, don't hesitate to call.” He held his phone up and tapped it twice before putting it into his coat pocket. He hugged Arianna and kissed her cheek and on instinct did the same to Will before he dashed out the door, leaving a rather flustered Will behind.

“Are you warm, daddy?” Ari asked, breaking Will from his train of thought that had been circling more and more around Sonny lately.

“Am I warm? Why would you ask that?” Will asked her as he reached for her coat.

“Cause your face is all red.” Ari informed him with a giggle and in the back of his mind he silently cursed Sonny and his kiss. Not because he didn't like it, but because he liked it too much. As innocent as it had been, just the feel of Sonny's lips against his were starting to become a little overwhelming. “Is it cause daddy Sonny kissed you? When I kissed Tommy at school last week his face got all red just like yours did!” Ari explained and Will froze.

“Excuse me, miss? But aren't you a little young to be going around kissing boys?” Will demanded from her as he picked the giggling girl up into his arms and kissed her cheeks.

“Stop it, daddy!” Arianna laughed as she attempted to push him away.

“Stop it? But I thought you liked kissing boys?” Will questioned as he continued to pepper her cheeks with kisses. In his chest he felt his heart begin to beat a little faster than before and again, there was something in the back of his mind that he knew he was supposed to remember. It was so close he felt like he could reach out and touch it.

“Daddy, stop! I wanna go ice skating!” Ari shrieked one final time before Will finally conceded and put her down.

“Ice skating first?” He asked her to which she very eagerly agreed that yes, they must go ice skating first. “Okay then, let's go!”

*~*~*~*~*

Will was positive that if he heard Santa Claus Is Coming To Town one more time he was going to murder Santa Claus. Checking his watch again, he groaned when he saw that they'd been skating for well over two hours now. Apparently his kid had a never ending supply of energy. Too bad Will's had run out an hour and forty five minutes ago.

“Ari, hey Arianna, its time to go!” He called to her as she skated past him for what had to be the millionth time. 

“Five more minutes, daddy!” The little girl called out, also for what felt like the millionth time. With a sigh, Will got to his feet, only wobbling slightly this time as he took to the ice to skate after his daughter. As soon as the little girl had caught sight of him, she'd squealed in delight and picked up the pace, skating faster than he should probably be letting her skate.

“Arianna!” Will called out to her as he tried to catch up with her. She was only four! How was it possible that she was skating like she'd been doing it her whole life.

_Because she has_. A voice in the back of his head said and Will nearly tripped it startled him so bad.

“Ari, please, slow down!” Will yelled, wincing suddenly when his vision seemed to go white around the edges. He stumbled this time, losing his balance and falling backwards onto the ice. His head knocked hard against the solid ground beneath him and this time he saw stars, his vision blacking out.

“Daddy, daddy!” Will woke to Arianna's cries and as much as it physically pained him to open his eyes, he had to. His baby was crying. He had to make sure she was okay.

“Daddy's here, Ari. I'm here, baby.” Will attempted to reassure her but her cries only seemed to intensify. For some reason hearing it felt almost foreign hearing him call himself daddy, like he hadn't used that word in a long time. 

“Please, sir, you need to hold still until the paramedics get here. You took an awfully hard fall.” A new and strange voice said and Will groaned, cracking his eyes open slightly to see the reason that Arianna was crying like she was, was because someone was holding her back from him. He reached out, silently demanding they let him have his daughter.

“Let her go, let her go!” Will snapped as he held his arms open for her to fall into. He patted her hair, cradling her head as she cried into his shoulder. “I'm here, baby. Daddy's here and he's okay.” 

“I, I turned around and you were gone, daddy!” Ari cried and Will felt his heart clench in his chest. He'd scared his daughter, so much so that she was nearly hysterical. He was a horrible father. It was bad enough he'd missed her birth and now- Will's eyes snapped open despite the pain in his head. He'd missed her birth. How did he know that? No one had mentioned that to him. Marlena had said that learning too much from his past could hinder his actual memories from returning so anything that they'd considered a monumental moment in his life they'd withheld from him, no matter how much he'd bugged them to just tell him.

“I'm here, Arianna,” Will said as tears filled his eyes. He remembered missing her birth because he'd been shot. Saving Nick's life. He remembered waking up in the hospital the next day and seeing Nick standing in the doorway, holding his daughter. He remembered the other man placing her in his arms and looking down into her little pink face and knowing his life was never going to be the same again. He remembered his daughter.

“Sir, please-” Someone started and Will silenced them with a glare almost immediately. “There's a paramedic here. Please let him check you over. You really did take a nasty fall.”

“Fine.” Will relented. “But don't try and take my daughter away from me again.” 

Even as he was loaded into the back of the ambulance, as they poked and prodded him checking his vitals, Will never loosened his hold on Arianna. He remembered her and he would be damned if anyone tried to take her away from him any time soon.

“Sir, is there anyone we can call for you?” The paramedic asked and it was like someone had flipped a switch in his brain.

“My husband.” Will replied, smiling. Sonny. He remembered Sonny. God, he remembered his husband! He felt like crying he was so happy. Maybe the headaches he'd been having on and off for the last couple of weeks were his memories trying to come back. Or maybe not. He couldn't be sure. All that mattered in that moment was that he remembered his daughter and his husband. Everything else would come to him in time now. He was sure of it.

~*~*~*~*~

There had been one too many times in his life that Sonny could remember being scared out of his mind. It just made sense with the way his life was going that he had another instance to add to the ever growing list. Rushing into the emergency room of the hospital, Sonny nearly face planted into a wall as he skidded around a corner in the direction of where he'd been told Will was.

“Will!” Sonny exclaimed as he practically tore through the door of Will's room, his eyes scanning for Will and finding him seated on a bed with Arianna in his lap coloring happily.

“Daddy!” Arianna exclaimed happily as she tossed her coloring book aside and made to jump into Sonny's arms. Luckily he was read for the little girl and caught her easily.

“Easy, baby girl. You've got to be easy with Will.” Sonny instructed her, confused when she wrinkled her nose up at him.

“Don't call him that,” Ari said unhappily. “He's daddy.” She informed him with a smile so wide Sonny was sure it had to hurt.

“I know he's daddy, baby, but-” Sonny started with every intention of explaining to his daughter how he knew it made Will slightly uncomfortable when they called him that since he couldn't remember being her daddy.

“No, daddy, listen!” Arianna said eagerly, grasping Sonny's face in her tiny hands. “He's daddy!” She exclaimed happily, laughing as she turned to smile at Will. Sonny noticed an all too familiar smile on his husbands face, one that he hadn't seen in over two years. 

“Will?” Sonny asked, confused as to what the little girl meant. “Are you okay? They said you fell and hit your head when you were ice skating but that's all they said.”

“No yeah, I'm, I'm okay. I'm a little sore from where my head hit the ice but other than a little dizziness I'm okay.” Will explained, still smiling at Sonny. “And she's right you know, so you really ought to listen to her.”

“He's daddy!” Arianna exclaimed happily again, this time as she bounced up and down in Sonny's arms.

“I know he's daddy, baby,” Sonny said with his own smile at the two.

“Do you know that though?” Will asked as he swung his legs slowly over the side of the bed. “Sonny, you have been so good to me since I came back. Sure, maybe you were a little pushy in the beginning but I can't say I'd be any different if I'd just discovered that my husband wasn't as dead as I'd thought him to be.”

“I, I know I was pushy at first and I am so sorry,” Sonny said, his eyes downcast as he spoke.

“No, no. I'm not asking you to be sorry for it. I'm actually glad you pushed. But that's beside the point. What I'm trying to say it that I, I don't want to take things slow anymore.” Will explained and Sonny's head jerked up in surprise. “I want my husband back. I want my best friend back. I think you've waited long enough for me to get my act in gear and remember how-”

“What? No, Will! I'm not trying to rush you! Your memories, I know they're going to come back in time and when they do-”

“When they do what, Jackson?” Will asked with a grin and Sonny froze. He hadn't told Will his real name was Jackson. As far as he knew, Will had no reason to believe his name was anything other than Sonny. “When my memories come back, what are you going to do?” He asked again, holding out a hand to Sonny to pull him closer. “Because now would be the time for you to figure out exactly what our daughters words meant.”

“He's back.” Arianna whispered and Sonny suddenly felt like someone had knocked the wind out of him. His knees buckled and he would have hit the floor hard if it hadn't been for Will's firm grasp on him.

“Will?” Sonny dared to ask, too afraid that this was a joke or that he was dreaming.

“I missed Arianna's birth because someone shot me but you, you were there with Gabi and you delivered our daughter.” Will told him. No sooner than did the words Will had spoken register to Sonny did he begin crying. He gasped as Will's hold on him tightened slightly. He could feel Arianna's little arms holding onto him just as tight.

“You remember.” Sonny said, a sob escaping his mouth when Will nodded his head.

“I remember meeting you for the first time. I remember dancing around each other for so long. I remember the first time you kissed me and how I reacted and then how it felt the next time we kissed. I remember feeling like every little thing in my life up until that point just suddenly clicked into place. I remember all of our firsts,” Will said with a bashful smile. “I remember our wedding. I remember feeling like I was another person when I came back from L.A. And everything that happened after that. I remember losing you and thinking that that was it, my life was over. I, I remember Ben, that night. I remember you and Arianna being my last thought before I died. I remember everything in-between, whether I want to remember it or not, its all there. Some stuff is more vivid than others but I remember my family, mom and dad, my grandma's. Sonny, I remember everything.”

“I told you he's daddy.” Ari said again and Sonny couldn't help it, he laughed. He laughed through his tears. It was a Christmas miracle and it was happening to them.

“You're back.” Sonny said in awe. “You're really you. You remember us?”

“I do remember you. Both of you. How I could have ever forgotten the two most important people in my life, I'll never understand but I promise you, I will never forget either one of you again.” Will swore to them and to himself.

“I hoped. God, Will, I prayed every day that you would remember us but I, I didn't actually think-”

“I know. I'd sort of assumed that I wasn't ever going to remember either. But I've been getting these really bad headaches for the last couple weeks and its like something has been nagging at me for days, right there in the back of my mind, something I should've known but I couldn't quite reach whatever it was and then, when we were ice skating I thought Arianna was skating too fast for someone so small so I went to catch her and I got tripped up, fell and hit my head really hard and I don't know, maybe that's all I needed. A good hard hit to the head for everything to come flooding back to me because it did. I remembered missing Arianna's birth and it was like a chain reaction. Memories just started flooding in.” Will explained, all the while never taking his eyes off of Sonny.

“You have no idea,” Sonny laughed as he wiped away the tears still on his cheeks. “No idea how much I've missed you.” He finished with a smile.

“Uh, yeah, I think I might have some idea.” Will laughed as he leaned in to hug his husband and daughter. He was finally back where he was supposed to be, with the people he loved the most. He leaned in and, for the first time since he'd died, initiated a kiss with his husband.

“Ew, daddies, stop it!” Arianna protested from between them as she attempted to push them apart.

“Never.” Will whispered against Sonny's lips as he dipped his head to kiss him again. Both men smiled as they kissed, happy to finally be back where they were supposed to be.


End file.
